Braga was defo a class side they must spend all day long passing and keeping the ball in training.
Weather affected charlton a bit.
Moutikil was excellent better than Young I expect him to leave next week for a 3 million pound profit ;-)
Simedo was quite good in central midfield good passing and he turns on the ball !!!
Reidy was better in the second half when he was more in the middle with Faye who replaced a woeful Sinclair looked like a player from Barnet.
Didnt play with wingers the majority of the Ambrose and Reid was more inside left and right midfielders.
Marcus was excellant outside the box but useless inside it just stood there watching crosses when he should be attacking them.
Not much of Todorov and big chris maybe because their was no width.
Mcarthy and Magic played well together Braga goals were from a dangerous cross where Thatcher headed it in and a good strike from a freekick that shouldnt have been.
Dickinson looked lively and hungry maybe send him on loan for a couple of months might be a gem there.
Sam and Christenson didnt do too much only 12 mins they were on.
Overall not a bad display against a UEFA cup team.
The one concern I had was a lack of cutting edge in the final third. Never put enough pressure on their defence and can't remember us making their keeper work much.
I posted this on my own thread earlier. Didnt realise this one had been started!
Just back -sat in the Henry Irving prawn sandwich stand for a change:-)
Firstly FC Braga were a decent side and I've seen worse Premiership sides than them on today's showing. Any negativity needs to be tempered with that thought in mind.
Very impressed with Moutakill and Semedo although he understandably faded a bit towards the end. Magic also looked impressive both defensively and going forward. Those three stood out for me today.
Reid showed plenty of endeavour but it didn't really amount to much. I'd say the same to a lesser extent about Ambrose although he did have a bit of end product occasionally and struck his free kick well when he scored. We definitely need Thomas in my opinion but the fact he didn't feature at all probably suggests that he is on his way worryingly along with Diawara.
Mc Carthy was ok without being spectacular rather like Fortune normally is. Can't judge on one game but initial impression no better than we've already got to quote Curbs. Big Chris looked promising but didn't really get too much service. Sinclair didn't do much on the ball apart from a shot straight at the keeper but he ran around a lot and made himself available. Today definitely seemed a step up for him in my opinion.
The revelation today, hope you're all sitting down, was Marcus! He won the free kick we scored from through sheer determination with a bit of craftiness thrown in and for 15 minutes or so looked really good and up for it. Sadly he reverted to type and spent some time hobbling around feeling his hamstring and faded a bit after that.
Thatcher looked wobbly to me and I'm not even thinking about his own goal. Second half he improved a bit but on his showing today I'd pick Chrissy Powell in front of him even if he is nearly as old as me!
Christianson looked lazy and disinterested for the short time he was on. Again harsh to judge on 15 minutes or so but first impressions not favourable.
In conclusion we showed encouraging signs at times without ever looking really convincing.
Very hard to gain an analysis from, we were playing a European standard side, who play at a different tempo and technique to us in weather that suited them. Not a great indicator or warm up ahead of a Championship game, but the hot weather and the fact we were chasing the ball a bit in spells will help the players stamina in the long run.
Very impressed with those mentioned already. Most important thing for me will be getting Moo2 and Samedo through 90 minutes without getting sent off. Only downside in this pair's games we a lot of free kicks against them. Samedo is a most for the holding role now in my opnion.
My only fear isthat Pardew is trying to build a young premiership team, which may not have enough grit and tenacity for the Championship
Marks out of ten
Weaver - Hard in the sun, fumbled a couple but pulled off a top drawer save 2nd half - 6
Moo2 - Impressive. Eager, pacy, runs all day. Final delivery can be improved and i fear may have a tendancy to lunge in, but looks a cracking buy. Our biggest attacking threat -
McCarthy - Solid if unspectacular. Certainly looks like he can 'do a job' but i don't think he will be one the prem clubs will be chasing at the end of the season -
Bougherra - Has big potential. Big and with pace, likes to carry out. Test will come when up against a big centre forward, and possibly prone to the oddwrong decision -
Thatcher - Real disappointment. Looked sluggish and off the pace, distribution poor. His game last season declined from when he joined us, and on today's evidence he looks a fair way short of being the player we signed -
Ambrose - Always flatters to deceive, you always feel there is so much more to him still. Kept ball well, great strike for goal, but sometimes has spells where he drifts out the game -
Samedo - Massive plus. Linked defence and midfield well, great touch and good vision. Won't be getting forward but sits nicely. If he has only played that role a couple of times, we may of struck gold. Just needs to cut out a few unnecessary fouls or he will be picking up a lot of cheap bookings -
Sinclair - Won'[t be too harsh, was eager and covered yards, but just looked lost and well short of this standard -
Reid - Looks slimmer but also looked like stamina wise he was struggling in the sun. The run out will do him good. Has a good touch and is one of our key suppliers, but gave it away cheaply at times, and has a tendency too much for turning into trouble rather than away -
Ilewumo - Big lump. Will work hard and win headers, and struggled from little width. But won't hold the ball up and link as well as Leaburn did, for example. Needs another striker playing off his shoulder -
Todorov - Very frustrating and wasn't that impressed. Has a nice touch, but the game passed him by too much, and he had zero attempts at trying to get behind Ilewumo or reading a flick on. Also looked an easy way out at times, trying to win cheap free kicks etc. Not sure where he is going to fit in to be honest -
Bent - Looked a different quality to Ilewumo to be honest. Looked relatively fit and worked better. Probably the best we have at the moment at holding the ball up. A positive for a change -
Faye - Looked better from what we saw late last season. Perhaps we've wrote him off to early, baring in mind he missed a lot of pre-season. Still not convinced on what positives he brings to the table though -
The rest all too little time to properly judge. The trialist was huge, but looked a bit clumbersome, while Christensen looked a bit off this level, as did Lloyd Sam (who is probably not fully fit yet)
Interesting that apart from Weaver, Moutaouakil and Semedo were the only two (I think) to play the full 90 minutes. They were both definitely the main pluses - particularly liked the fact that Semedo always wanted the ball, and tried to do something useful with it when he got it.
Perhaps worrying that some of the best crosses I can remember came from Bougherra when he ended up on the left wing!
And a good word for Bent as well - I also thought we looked a better team when he came on for Iwelumo.
Finally, a shame that the summer cutbacks didn't include our man with the microphone, although I'm almost looking forward to him trying to hype up the visit of Scunthorpe to Champions League Final proportions...
Agree with everyone else pretty much thought Moootoo looked excellent, did anyone see that run back to position after he put in a dodgy cross beginning of the second half? I've never seen anyone run that fast.....oh except for that danish fella we had who was fastest thing since "sliced bread"!!!!
Semedo...very comfotable, I'm a bit unconvinced with McCarthy, looks a bit basic, let's hope he's the sort that let's nothing get past him. I thought ambrose looked good, I've always liked him.....no not in that way! Reid was okay looked a bit off the pace compared to Braga but think he's gonna run games in the CCC. I'm glad Fortunes staying, I think he'll see plenty of game time.
They were a good side better than a lot of Prem teams so with such a new team from our part I think we should be positive about the season, might take a month to get going for us though.
Thought We didn't have enough width and our defence also gave too much room,played too much through the middle, overall an encouraging run out and probably enough on display for pards to think about.
Chris Powell does bring a smile to everyones face, doesn't he!
My observations-
Some sitting near me ( not the lifer contingent!) should remember that Braga are a class side.
Thought we missed Thomas- worryingly!
Moo2kill- very assured
Reid- did well but was trying to over Thomas's role, and he isn't a Thomas.
Simedo- looked assured and showed promise
Lacked a real cutting edge in the final 3rd- worryingly found myself hoping for a speedy return of Varney- rather would have hoped that we had suficient cover.
Ambrose did little in this match apart from his goal. We are going to need him to be a big player for us this season, and again repeating the fact that Thomas could really shine for us at this level, because the two of them together will create width of which there was precious little today.
Says something when we miss players like Thomas & M Bent who fair play to him made a huge diference when he came on. When he loses that hissy fit thing he does he may even look good at this level. The sooner Reg's love child is back the better, thought we seriously lacked anything final third.
Still think the Valley will be a fortress for us next season, it's our Away form I am still worried about though.
Was away for the weekend so missed the game unfortunately.
Have heard nothing but good things about Semedo and Moutakil (sp?) all pre season though - really excited about seeing how it all shapes up on Saturday.
Love that picture of Jorge and Chrissy Powell! Brilliant. Legends the pair of them.
[cite]Posted By: PassItToLeaburn[/cite]
Have heard nothing but good things about Semedo and Moutakil (sp?) all pre season though - really excited about seeing how it all shapes up on Saturday.
My only reservation with that is that the games we have seen of them have been slow paced, and more european style compared to what we will be playing week in week out. Samedo lookied very comfortable in that role, but whether it will be fully suited to the Championship we'll have to wait a few games to see.
Comments
Weather affected charlton a bit.
Moutikil was excellent better than Young I expect him to leave next week for a 3 million pound profit ;-)
Simedo was quite good in central midfield good passing and he turns on the ball !!!
Reidy was better in the second half when he was more in the middle with Faye who replaced a woeful Sinclair looked like a player from Barnet.
Didnt play with wingers the majority of the Ambrose and Reid was more inside left and right midfielders.
Marcus was excellant outside the box but useless inside it just stood there watching crosses when he should be attacking them.
Not much of Todorov and big chris maybe because their was no width.
Mcarthy and Magic played well together Braga goals were from a dangerous cross where Thatcher headed it in and a good strike from a freekick that shouldnt have been.
Dickinson looked lively and hungry maybe send him on loan for a couple of months might be a gem there.
Sam and Christenson didnt do too much only 12 mins they were on.
Overall not a bad display against a UEFA cup team.
The one concern I had was a lack of cutting edge in the final third. Never put enough pressure on their defence and can't remember us making their keeper work much.
Just back -sat in the Henry Irving prawn sandwich stand for a change:-)
Firstly FC Braga were a decent side and I've seen worse Premiership sides than them on today's showing. Any negativity needs to be tempered with that thought in mind.
Very impressed with Moutakill and Semedo although he understandably faded a bit towards the end. Magic also looked impressive both defensively and going forward. Those three stood out for me today.
Reid showed plenty of endeavour but it didn't really amount to much. I'd say the same to a lesser extent about Ambrose although he did have a bit of end product occasionally and struck his free kick well when he scored. We definitely need Thomas in my opinion but the fact he didn't feature at all probably suggests that he is on his way worryingly along with Diawara.
Mc Carthy was ok without being spectacular rather like Fortune normally is. Can't judge on one game but initial impression no better than we've already got to quote Curbs. Big Chris looked promising but didn't really get too much service. Sinclair didn't do much on the ball apart from a shot straight at the keeper but he ran around a lot and made himself available. Today definitely seemed a step up for him in my opinion.
The revelation today, hope you're all sitting down, was Marcus! He won the free kick we scored from through sheer determination with a bit of craftiness thrown in and for 15 minutes or so looked really good and up for it. Sadly he reverted to type and spent some time hobbling around feeling his hamstring and faded a bit after that.
Thatcher looked wobbly to me and I'm not even thinking about his own goal. Second half he improved a bit but on his showing today I'd pick Chrissy Powell in front of him even if he is nearly as old as me!
Christianson looked lazy and disinterested for the short time he was on. Again harsh to judge on 15 minutes or so but first impressions not favourable.
In conclusion we showed encouraging signs at times without ever looking really convincing.
In an ideal world we need Thomas and Diawara!
Very hard to gain an analysis from, we were playing a European standard side, who play at a different tempo and technique to us in weather that suited them. Not a great indicator or warm up ahead of a Championship game, but the hot weather and the fact we were chasing the ball a bit in spells will help the players stamina in the long run.
Very impressed with those mentioned already. Most important thing for me will be getting Moo2 and Samedo through 90 minutes without getting sent off. Only downside in this pair's games we a lot of free kicks against them. Samedo is a most for the holding role now in my opnion.
My only fear isthat Pardew is trying to build a young premiership team, which may not have enough grit and tenacity for the Championship
Marks out of ten
Weaver - Hard in the sun, fumbled a couple but pulled off a top drawer save 2nd half - 6
Moo2 - Impressive. Eager, pacy, runs all day. Final delivery can be improved and i fear may have a tendancy to lunge in, but looks a cracking buy. Our biggest attacking threat -
McCarthy - Solid if unspectacular. Certainly looks like he can 'do a job' but i don't think he will be one the prem clubs will be chasing at the end of the season -
Bougherra - Has big potential. Big and with pace, likes to carry out. Test will come when up against a big centre forward, and possibly prone to the oddwrong decision -
Thatcher - Real disappointment. Looked sluggish and off the pace, distribution poor. His game last season declined from when he joined us, and on today's evidence he looks a fair way short of being the player we signed -
Ambrose - Always flatters to deceive, you always feel there is so much more to him still. Kept ball well, great strike for goal, but sometimes has spells where he drifts out the game -
Samedo - Massive plus. Linked defence and midfield well, great touch and good vision. Won't be getting forward but sits nicely. If he has only played that role a couple of times, we may of struck gold. Just needs to cut out a few unnecessary fouls or he will be picking up a lot of cheap bookings -
Sinclair - Won'[t be too harsh, was eager and covered yards, but just looked lost and well short of this standard -
Reid - Looks slimmer but also looked like stamina wise he was struggling in the sun. The run out will do him good. Has a good touch and is one of our key suppliers, but gave it away cheaply at times, and has a tendency too much for turning into trouble rather than away -
Ilewumo - Big lump. Will work hard and win headers, and struggled from little width. But won't hold the ball up and link as well as Leaburn did, for example. Needs another striker playing off his shoulder -
Todorov - Very frustrating and wasn't that impressed. Has a nice touch, but the game passed him by too much, and he had zero attempts at trying to get behind Ilewumo or reading a flick on. Also looked an easy way out at times, trying to win cheap free kicks etc. Not sure where he is going to fit in to be honest -
Bent - Looked a different quality to Ilewumo to be honest. Looked relatively fit and worked better. Probably the best we have at the moment at holding the ball up. A positive for a change -
Faye - Looked better from what we saw late last season. Perhaps we've wrote him off to early, baring in mind he missed a lot of pre-season. Still not convinced on what positives he brings to the table though -
The rest all too little time to properly judge. The trialist was huge, but looked a bit clumbersome, while Christensen looked a bit off this level, as did Lloyd Sam (who is probably not fully fit yet)
They were both definitely the main pluses - particularly liked the fact that Semedo always wanted the ball, and tried to do something useful with it when he got it.
Perhaps worrying that some of the best crosses I can remember came from Bougherra when he ended up on the left wing!
And a good word for Bent as well - I also thought we looked a better team when he came on for Iwelumo.
Finally, a shame that the summer cutbacks didn't include our man with the microphone, although I'm almost looking forward to him trying to hype up the visit of Scunthorpe to Champions League Final proportions...
Quite an enjoyable game, I thought, and I'm confident about the season ahead. The sun is shining in SE7.
Semedo...very comfotable, I'm a bit unconvinced with McCarthy, looks a bit basic, let's hope he's the sort that let's nothing get past him. I thought ambrose looked good, I've always liked him.....no not in that way! Reid was okay looked a bit off the pace compared to Braga but think he's gonna run games in the CCC. I'm glad Fortunes staying, I think he'll see plenty of game time.
They were a good side better than a lot of Prem teams so with such a new team from our part I think we should be positive about the season, might take a month to get going for us though.
Old team mates reunited....
Chris Powell does bring a smile to everyones face, doesn't he!
My observations-
Some sitting near me ( not the lifer contingent!) should remember that Braga are a class side.
Thought we missed Thomas- worryingly!
Moo2kill- very assured
Reid- did well but was trying to over Thomas's role, and he isn't a Thomas.
Simedo- looked assured and showed promise
Lacked a real cutting edge in the final 3rd- worryingly found myself hoping for a speedy return of Varney- rather would have hoped that we had suficient cover.
Ambrose did little in this match apart from his goal. We are going to need him to be a big player for us this season, and again repeating the fact that Thomas could really shine for us at this level, because the two of them together will create width of which there was precious little today.
Bring on Scunthorpe.
And what was HE doing there....? Does NOBODY want him?
Can anyone spot themselves in the crowd?
You tell me....
;-)
OK, you got me medders
"We are the C block, we are the C block......."
And we're obeying the " remain seated rule" he hastens to add!
Dis-appointments :- Sinclair, Todorov, Illumellumo, Crowd Attendance (Very Poor)
Says something when we miss players like Thomas & M Bent who fair play to him made a huge diference when he came on. When he loses that hissy fit thing he does he may even look good at this level. The sooner Reg's love child is back the better, thought we seriously lacked anything final third.
Still think the Valley will be a fortress for us next season, it's our Away form I am still worried about though.
Have heard nothing but good things about Semedo and Moutakil (sp?) all pre season though - really excited about seeing how it all shapes up on Saturday.
Love that picture of Jorge and Chrissy Powell! Brilliant. Legends the pair of them.
My only reservation with that is that the games we have seen of them have been slow paced, and more european style compared to what we will be playing week in week out. Samedo lookied very comfortable in that role, but whether it will be fully suited to the Championship we'll have to wait a few games to see.